Wild garlic (also known as ramsons or bear’s garlic) comes into season this month and you’ll find it easily thanks to its unmistakable smell.
In early spring the woodland air in many places is thick with the pungent, garlicky aroma of ramsons crops for several hundred yards around. Once you locate a likely crop you can confirm its identity by looking for small, star-shaped white flowers and waxy green leaves. It’s unlikely you’ll go wrong (although be aware that Lily of the Valley, which is toxic, does bear some resemblance). In fact, so familiar and identifiable are wild garlic colonies that ‘garlic woods’ feature as landmarks on many old maps of the countryside. It’s one of the first reliable wild crops of the year and its arrival causes great excitement for foragers across the country.
Despite its strong smell, the flavour of wild garlic is usually subtle and you can use the leaves in place of spring onions in most dishes. Gather what you need (taking no more than a couple of leaves from each plant), then get your foraged crop into the kitchen as soon as you can, especially if it’s destined for the salad bowl. If necessary, you can revive any slightly wilted leaves by standing them in a glass of fresh water for twenty minutes or so.
If you can’t find any in the woods then you should have better luck at the larger farmers’ markets and can also now buy online from a few good suppliers.
Try:
Potato gnocchi with wild garlic pesto (p. 70)
Chicken, leek and wild garlic pie (p. 73)